Chirps from Center Ice

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I hope Mr. Leonard doesn’t read my blog because I have no idea if ‘Quattour Zeta’ translates from Latin to English to “Four Z” or not.

Where am I going with this? Simple. Radim Zohorna had a hat trick and an assist as the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton Penguins comeback after Sunday afternoon’s disappointing overtime loss with a big 5-2 win Monday night.

The Penguins magic number will drop to 15. They will now be six points off second place Providence with one more game in hand and three points clear of fourth place Charlotte with the same amount of games played (60)

Good win, they get 3 out of 4 points out of a good, yet depleted Cleveland team.

Lines were…

Lineup Notes: Nick Hart mentioned pregame that Cleveland was actually going with 10 forwards and 8 defensemen with ex-Penguin Billy Sweezey jumping in and playing forward.

For the Penguins, Jack St. Ivany was back down from Pittsburgh. The Penguins didn’t recall anyone but you’ll notice that Jonathan Gruden was out of the lineup, so expect him to be recalled Tuesday. Lukas Svejkovsky was in for Jonathan Gruden and Matt Filipe for Justin Addamo at forward and the aforementioned St. Ivany was in for Ryan Shea and Owen Headrick was in for Taylor Fedun.

First Period: Penguins get a goal on what was thought to be a double deflection of a St. Ivany shot that was last touched by Jagger Joshua that gave the Penguins a 1-0 lead.

The Monsters would respond in kind with a power play goal that tied it at one off the stick of Jake Gaudet.

But the Penguins would respond about a minute and a half later when Radim Zohorna unleashed a hell of a shot that beat Malcolm Subban.

Second Period: They outshoot the Monsters 18-6 in the period, yet they only still led by one goal despite going up two in the period off of this shot from Jack Rathbone which was tipped by Vasiliy Ponomarev for his first as a Penguin.

Again, the boxscore has the goal credited to Ponomarev.

The Monsters only had four shots on goal fifteen minutes into the period but it was one breakdown defensively that saw James Malatesta find himself alone on the left side and he picked a corner to bring the Monsters back within one.

Too close to call for the Penguins, up one, after being in control for large stretches of this game against team dressing 10 forwards.

Third Period: This was one of those grit your teeth hide your eyes periods for Penguins fans after being in control for much of the game to this point. We have all been here before, right?

A Jack St. Ivany shot was deleted in by Radio Zohorna but initially washed out on account of a possible high stick, but after a conference between the officials, it was awarded as a clean goal and a goal that re-established the Penguins two goal lead.

Good goal and the correct call. But they still should make it reviewable via video replay. Justin Kea was one of the referees tonight and he does NHL games, You don’t think he could use development in reviewing a possible goal on a cozy Monday AHL game in Cleveland?

Make these reviewable, is what I am saying.

Penguins continued to remain in control, Cleveland pulled their goaltender with around 3:45 left to play and then took a penalty. Instead of running the clock out they got a power play goal when Zohorna tipped in his third of the game off a shot from Xavier Ouellet.

That’s one way to make a statement.

Three Stars: 3) Jagger Joshua (goal, assist) 2) Jack St. Ivany (three assists) 1) Radim Zohorna (three goals, assist)

The Good: Complete game for the Penguins, despite the blemishes and lapses. Despite what it appeared, the Penguins were in control and the issue was never really in doubt.

The Bad: A stretch, but Cleveland dressed ten forwards and still had a chance to pull upset and were, by rights, in it till the end. A better Penguins team has this team down three goals.

Turning Point: Zohorna’s second goal which was initially waved off which gave the Penguins a two goal lead gets it here. If the goal was ruled illegal and the Monsters come back and win, this sequence still likely gets it so let’s just go with it.

Around the Division: Penguins at Cleveland was the only game in the AHL on Monday.

Standings: Hershey 93 – Providence 77 – Penguins 71 – Charlotte 68 – Hartford 67 – Lehigh Valley 60 – Springfield 59 – Bridgeport 47

Wheeling Update: The Nailers were off.

Video Highlights: I didn’t see any last night, so the AHL VideoCenter may be your best bet if you are so inclined.